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Thursday, April 22, 2010

Zipper Lust

Readers, have you ever seen Riri zippers? Pacific Trimming here in New York carries them, and they've just increased their stock to take over an entire wall! I first read about these zippers in Threads magazine: they're renowned for being very high-quality. And they're really quite beautiful too; the teeth are so glinty and jewel-like in the hypnotic way that very shiny things are. Riri is a Swiss company and the zippers are made by hand in a small town in Italy. Doesn't that all sound so romantic?

I love the way they slide open smoothly, and the metal teeth are pretty in a utilitarian way. You'll find metal zips in vintage couture, like this Ceil Chapman below. The last time I went to Anthropologie, I noticed a lot of the retro summer dresses had metal zips as well. I think it adds a lovely authentic touch to vintage-inspired dresses and the mixture of beauty and sturdiness really appeals to me.

I ended up buying two of these lovely zippers: one plain white and one in black satin. They're not cheap: they run around $12 a pop. But they're just so lovely and special that I can't wait to put them into some new dresses.

Here's a peek at some satin-tape zippers. Wouldn't they be pretty in an exposed application?

Sadly, Riri zippers are difficult to find online. The Sewing Place has a nice selection of the decorative type with the multi-colored teeth, which isn't really my thing. But perhaps you'll dig it:

However, Pacific Trimming has tons of info about the zippers on their website, so perhaps you can call or e-mail them with a mail order. (Though Pacific is always such a madhouse it's hard to imagine them running a mail order business. But hey, who knows?)

Have you ever used these zips? Do you think $12 for a zipper is insane? Let me hear it in the comments!

36 comments:

Oh my goodness they're beautiful zips!! I've never heard of them and I do think $12 dollars is a bit crazy for a zip...but I want one! Or several haha. I'm going check them out and see if anyone over here in Britain stocks them. Metal zippers in vintage repro dresses really adds that little something extra.Lottie x

As for the cost, well... I guess it depends on whether you think it's worth it, relative to your project. I'm making some dresses for work at the moment and I really love the idea of these zips - I hope I can find a supplier soon!

I 'accidentally' bought 100 metal teeth zippers on ebay a few months ago. I thought I was buying plastic teethed ones.

My problem with them is that I don't know how to sew them... does your opening have to match the zip length exactly? Normally with the plastic zip I just sew over the end at the length I need and cut any excess length off. Perhaps I need to google up on it.

Ooooh! I adore metal zippers--I'm always on the lookout for vintage metal zippers when I'm vintage shopping. I have to admit though: as much as I love working with vintage zippers, I couldn't see myself spending $12 for every zipper, for every project. But, for something nice--like a fancy day dress or an evening gown, I'd totally jump for a zipper that was beautiful and reliable!

To answer Clare's question about shortening metal zippers... You just measure the length you need, and use pliers to pull off an inch or so of teeth below that on either side of the zipper. Sew a stop at the bottom edge of the zipper teeth (I use heavy duty thread sewn over the edges of the tapes a few times), and insert into the opening as usual. It's a bit of work, but can be done!

Surprisingly, there's a little apparel fabric store here in St. louis that carries these zippers (albeit a smaller selection). I haven't found a need for an exposed pretty zipper because I'm really into invisible zippers, but I could see they would be v. pretty on a wiggle skirt or something like that, maybe up the front?

Oh, I do love metal zippers, especially exposed, and those are so pretty.The price is insane for a zipper, but if you think about it as a masterpiece, all made by hand... hmm, that's a different story, isn't it?

Those multicoloured ones are so cute. And satin zippers, how fabulous.

I'm still an invisible zipper fan all the way though. More than ever since I heeded your advice about sewing machine feet in one of your earlier posts and I got myself an invisible zipper foot. Now I can't believe I ever tried sewing on zippers without one, It is so wonderful and makes for such neat zips!

I could see those being really great as an exposed application, but that's not really my thing.

$12 is a lot for a zipper, but if you're putting high quality materials into any particular garment, why not a high quality zipper as well?

I'm actually not much of a metal teeth zipper person myself, it's one of the few areas where I prefer plastic. I like having teeth that match my fabric if it's not an invisible zip.

There's also the durability issue - there are trade-offs for everything. On the one hand, invisible zips are sturdier than plastic in that they're less likely to break over time. However, metal zips may well seize at some point in the future. I've volunteered, worked in, and again volunteer with historical costume collections and it's very common that metal zips which are 30+ years don't want to zip or unzip anymore.

This is probably not a serious consideration for more people (who thinks of the longevity of their own clothes to such a degree) but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

I used them for my Oscar de la Renta motorcycle jacket knockoff. The Oscar I was knocking off, if you blew it up, actually had Riri zippers with the name clearly visible. I spent $68 for them. The long separating zipper had to come from a longer one, so it cost quite a lot. There were 4 other zippers in the jacket and they are worth every penny. Gorgeous satin tapes and the teeth are like glittering jewelry. Wroth every damn penny.I used a Riri in a leather skirt I made last fall and tried to order this by phone. Good luck on that. I ended up buying it on a trip into the city. You can try emailing them since I haven't found an order page on the site.

Oh I wish you could buy them online! I'll have to check Ebay :) $12 is a lot for a zipper, but if in comparison, sometimes special buttons can cost that much. And one of the joys of sewing is that you can choose expensive trims since you're not mass-producing the garment! I'd spend that much on a zipper for something really special, or if a super-durable zipper was needed - but not for every dress I make. Thanks for sharing!

I have a stash of fabulous Riri zippers... last fall I found a listing on craigslist for a small-ish designer (Abaete) going out of business and selling off all of their supplies. I scored a lot of sweet stuff, and they had a ton of Riri zippers that they were selling for $2 apiece. I knew Riris were nice but didn't know how much they cost - I grabbed 15 of them and bargained to get them for $25. If I had known better, I would have bought every single one they had. For now, my Riris are waiting for the perfect projects to come along. I managed to get matching zippers in a few different lengths, as well as some miscellaneous ones, and I'm always keeping an eye out for inspirational exposed zipper projects. I'd love to make some kind of jacket, where I can have 2 small zippered pockets and 2 big zippered pockets, all matching the separating zipper...cuz yeah, I've got 3 sets of those!

Oh no, a new fabulous notion to covet! I wonder if I can find them in the garment district here in L.A.? I actually think the multicolored teeth are sort of cute, if used in the right way -- say, as an exposed zipper in a plain black and white skirt. (Say, that happens to be my current project!)

I wouldn't say $12 is insane if you can afford it and it's for a special project. Of course higher-quality, hand-made things are going to have greater cost! I'll stick to searching for vintage metal zips though.

Gosh who knew zips could be so pretty?? I'm making a vintage repro dress that is just screaming for one, normally i would agree $12 is a little steep for a zip, prefer to splurge on the fabric, but then i remembered only yesterday i ended up spending $22 for 8 buttons ( by accident i didn't realize how much they were untill looking at receipt later... oops!)so maybe it's not that bad??:-) Ruby Slippersrubyslippersvintage.blogspot.com

They do look like beautiful zips but I don't really like the 'zip showing' look so that would be lost on me. Also I think $12 is way too much to spend on a zip that I will do my best to make sure is hidden!! Give me a good inviisble Zip anyday, that just looks like part of the seam!

I love these zippers. I purchased one, won't say how much it cost, LOL I want to put it in the back of a dress exposed. I couldn't make up my mind there were so many beautiful ones! I'll be in NY May 1, can't wait to go back again,

A co-worker of mine brought in some scraps for us to pick through. There was one metal zipper that had a hook and eye attached to it. It was something I'd never seen before and at the same time felt really disappointed for they saying popped in my head 'they don't make zippers like the use to'. I love zipper lots on etsy or ebay, you can get a few for $20, I love having excess zippers, I never have to worry about picking one up or having to wait to finish a dress until I get one. :D

I only used Riri zippers until I moved to the US 3 years ago. Since they are so hard to find here, I always try to plan ahead my projects and stock up when I am in Switzerland. The price is pretty high but you will use them forewer. Some of mine are in the third garment - I never throw them away but reuse them many times... have fun!

Despite having sewn for many years I don't think I've ever used Riri zippers. But my ex was madly in love with them... I think he had plans to go to Switzerland just to visit the factory! But then, our first date was to a button shop, so I shouldn't have been surprised...

These are beautiful and perfect for a special project that I have in the works. I contacted the UK guy for Riri and got this response:

"All Riri zips are made to order, minimum quantity 30 pcs of a style, length& colour.

You can buy Riri retail from London TrimmingsTel - 020 7790 2233www.londontrimmings.co.uk"

Having checked the londontrimmings website it looks like they only sell to trade but might be up for selling to individuals, I guess it's time to turn on the charm and give them a call...unless 29 other people want to go in for a bulk buy with me??

Riri is one of the oldest brands and was established in 1936 in Switzerland. All their metal zippers are still produced in Switzerland. Their zippers are polished (smooth feeling) and manufactured to a high Swiss standard. Pacific Trimming or Panda (NYC 38th St.) have a very good selection and they ship worldwide.